percyjacksonfancharactersfandomcom-20200214-history
Vanessa Daren
OC child Vanessa.jpg|How I imagine Vanessa would look as a child. Or maybe a photo of her taken by Chiron? Percy Jackson OC II.jpg|First sighting of Vanessa at camp. Percy Jackson OC XII.jpg|Wings Exposed Percy Jackson OC VXI.jpg|Meeting in a dream. Midnight.jpg|Vanessa's Pet- Midnight the Kitten. OC Vannessa.jpg|Vanessa and Midnight. Before continuing further, the author of this page would like to make it known that she is in no way associated with the original creator of the Percy Jackson series, Neither do I make any profits off of this article unless you count the enjoyment of writing as a profit. Vanessa is my own personal character, so please do not make any edits to this article without either contacting me or getting my approval first. Pictures are courtesy of Photobucket as I am lazy, and already have a mountain of schoolwork to finish up. Any stories involving more Greek myths would be most helpful. :) ~ Fall3nD011 (talk) 04:43, September 26, 2013 (UTC) 'Vanessa Elizabeth "Lizzy" Daren: ' "I know I can never be as they are...that in the end, I'm the kind of girl who thrives in the darkness. I have to be- and I embrace that." -Her gaze, which had been spacing off into the distance before, as if she found something in the far-off distance more interesting than the group of angered bullies that had surrounded her, now looked forward for the first time. The young Satyr they had originally targeted took this opportunity and ran back to camp-no one however seemed to really register this. All eyes were on the young girl in front of them. Most people would be panicking by now when they had five of the Ares' cabin's most bloodthirsty circling them. But those blue eyes slowly moved to each of them, not looking away. Not blinking. She memorized their faces, memorized their expressions as their resolve wavered in that moment. Was it natural for someone to have those kind of eyes? A ghost of a smile forming on her lips as she took a relaxed stance- her legs in a neutral cat stance, arms falling to her sides after tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The leader shifted slightly-as if he were reconsidering facing her. To the twins, it was like watching that gut-wrenching moment before the storm came. And she treated it all like this was a friendly banter with a classmate.- "But if it's the concept of "Different" that you are so against, then I think you're wrong. Afterall, we were all brought here because we were different from everyone else, right? I think the question here sugar, is what do you see in me that none of you can face in yourselves?" '' Vanessa is a Greek Demi-god, the first and only known to be related to the goddess of the night. She is also related to the Oneiroi (Morpheus, Phantasos, Phoebetor), and Hypnos. Vanessa is a member of Camp Half-Blood, and is the daughter and acknowledged champion of Nyx, the goddess of Nighttime. Out of most of the young half-bloods who attend camp, she has lived inside the barrier the longest to-date. She is a former member of the Hermes cabin, having gotten her own cabin to live in after Percy makes the gods swear to recognize their children. She is also best friends with the Stoll brothers. At one point in time Vanessa was a friend to Luke Castellan before his betrayal, however she refused his offer to join him-thus breaking ties with him. 'Early life and History: ' Vanessa is the only known child of Nyx that is half-human. There was much scrutiny about her being allowed in the camp by the staff at first, as she was much younger than the average Demi-god brought to Camp half-blood, and secondly because she is a direct descendant of Chaos, carrying probably more of his blood through her veins than most other demi-gods. However, this despute was eventually dropped as no one was willing to argue with one of the oldest goddesses on the matter of her daughter's wellfare. Vanessa's parents met thanks largely to an incident with the Oneirois, rather than Eros's direct intervention- although the god of love admitted to "shooting an arrow their way" when it became apparent that their hearts were aligned. Vanessa's human father, Alexander Daren, worked as a musician and bartender in several pubs in downtown London, England. Alexander's dreams are believed to be what attracted Nyx to him in her time spent filling in for Morpheus-as he would often immerse himself in either his songs or dreams when he needed a break from reality. For whatever reason, a seemingly accidental connection was formed between Nyx and Alexander on one of these routine "false" dreams, when the goddess agreed to stand in for her son Morpheus- who had pleaded for some rare time off from his duties for personal reasons. Nyx continued to visit Alex even after her time filling in for Morpheus was over, and would appear in her human lover's dreams every night. Eventually, Nyx met with and revealed herself to Alexander-and he accepted her. They courted each other for several years. Alexander eventually proposed, and the two were married in secret-only Nyx's closest relatives and Alexander's best friend,a former member of camp half-blood, were aware of their union at the time. But because she is a creature of night, Nyx could not stay in the mortal realm, and was carefully approached and asked by Zeus to return immediately when their marriage was discovered. Like many other immortals, Nyx was forced to leave behind her husband. Desperate and obsessed with finding her, Alexander forsook his own health, and scraped together what money he had to travel in search of her- but was unable to find or contact his wife. Seven months later- Alexander was woken by the sounds of mewling from his front door. To his surprise, there was a small baby girl, barely three days old, wrapped in a dark shrowd with star-like pattern draped across it. He recognized the shrowd as something Nyx had worn when they first met- and immediately took his daughter inside his flat. Still saddened with the loss of his wife, but hopeful now that the safety of their baby daughter was confirmed for the time, Alexander focused on looking after his daughter- however all good things must come to an end. About a year after finding her, Alexander fell ill. He suffered from stomach cancer, and was forced to entrust the care of his daughter to his mother when he could no longer look after her himself. He explained that the infant Vanessa was "unique," and that she was not to untie the shawl from her until he'd had time to rest and explain. But after awhile, when Alexander was asleep from the painkillers, the old woman couldn't help herself-and unwrapped the shawl, discovering to her horror that the child had two black wings coming from the place just above her shoulder blades. As Alexander had never told the entire truth about Vanessa's birth- having sworn not to reveal Nyx's identity to anyone as long as they were together- the dying man couldn't tell his mother her story before. When she saw the wings, Vanessa's grandmother, who was a superstitious woman by nature, believed the child was mutilated or cursed. She took the baby to a hospital far from their house, and dumped the child on the doorsteps, believing she was saving her son by sacrificing her granddaughter to whatever fate may be. There was no way to hide her wings once that piece of cloth was unwrapped, as the few non-humans working at the hospital weren't strong enough to intervene without revealing themselves to the rest of the staff. The newborn girl was taken away before word got out to the public, and sent to to the Rutledge Private Clinic & Institute-a privately owned and sponsored academy that was infamously known for conducting research on mutations in the human body, and studying the "paranormal." The doctors there were using the patients- both human and non-human, that they supposedly "cured" as lab rats in the name of their research-in other words, they tortured them. Because of the multiple experiments and operations she was put through, Vanessa has multiple scars over her back and torso in criss-cross patterns. She often wears long-sleeved clothing articles to hide these from her fellow Camp members, or uses the mist to hide them as well as her wings, which appear as a full-back tattoo when she uses it. Alexander tried hard to get her back, but his sickness was too great. Rather than get the chemotherapy and surgery he needed, he spent every waking moment trying to get his daughter back from the clinic. He died hours before he could make it to the final court hearing, which was suspended for a time on account of his death. When Nyx learned of Alexander's death, and the roll her late-husband's mother had played in the loss of her child, she was furious. Seeking out Chiron, she pleaded with him to find her daughter, as Zeus's decree stopped her from doing so herself. Shaken by seeing a strong goddess like Nyx pleading, he agreed out of sympathy, and out of concern for what Nyx might do if she was refused. Rather than call upon the demi-gods at camp, Chiron enlisted the assistance of several satyr's and Hermes, and left the camp in secret, traveling to England to track down the young girl. They made it to the courthouse as representatives of the late Alexander Daren and the mother of Vanessa, and Chiron was able to stall for time while Hermes and the satyr's snuck into the clinic to record footage of what happened to the patients there. With the video footage from this clinic, Chiron was able to convince the judge to entrust Vanessa into his care just before the head doctor could perform his final experiment on Vanessa-the removal of her wings, the process of which would have likely killed her. Hermes stopped this by using his powers, buying Chiron time to carry the girl out of the building as the satyr's shielded them and made a fast getaway. After arriving at camp Half-blood, she was healed in the Apollo cabin- and was put on bed rest until the child was well enough to be moved. Hermes consented to having her put in his cabin for a time, as no one there would question a sudden arrival of a new demi-god. Chiron saw to it that the girl was taught properly, but being as young as she was in comparison to the other half-bloods at the camp when she first arrived, Vanessa was often left on her own as a child, and was not allowed to compete in some of the more risky training exercises until she was older. She would often watch on the sidelines though- and it would seem she learned how to best several of the excersizes by viewing her peer's attempts. To keep her from being lonely, Chiron gave her a kitten he happened upon during one of his business trips, which she came to call Midnight. Vanessa later met and befriended the sons of Hermes, Travis and Connor Stoll. In return for helping her handle a member of the Ares cabin who had attempted to bully and hit her when she refused to have a rematch with him after winning a contest, Vanessa covered for the brothers after they were accused of a prank that would have likely earned them a harsh punishment-saying they had been practicing together when the incident took place. Since that time the three have been nearly inseperable, and often rely on each other in and outside of missions. It's believed Vanessa is one of the few people that they seriously listen too- and that she may or may not have had involvement in several of their other well-known pranks, such as the chocolate bunny incident with the Demeter cabin. It is known that they often practice together, and from time to time have sleep-overs when they want to spend more time together. Usually they wind up playing video games or come up with ingenious pranks to pull on other camp members. They also exchange advice or stories from previous missions, offering each other tips on how to deal with certain foes. Vanessa is the one Travis and Connor confide in after they are made the new counselor's of the Hermes cabin-and is admittedly one of the first people to vote for them. One notable memory she and the twins have would be when, for Father's day, Vanessa convinced the brothers to make and sign a card for Hermes. Since it was a holiday gift and something that would be delivered, she reasoned that it would be acceptable for them to send holiday cards to their parents-ergo finding a valid loophole in Zeus's decree. While the brothers eagerly worked on their cards, Vanessa created one for her own father, that she kept hidden in a toy box inside her closet. They took the rest of the hand-made cards to Mr. D, who agreed to have the cards delivered after being bribed with a rum cake. Word got out to the rest of the camp about the trio's idea when a satyr overheard the conversation, and the idea acaught like wildfire. Before Mr. D Knew what was happening, he was suddenly agreeing to deliver nearly three entire bagfuls of letters from all of the children at the camp to their parents. Vanessa is also believed to be a "helping party" in the chocolate-buny incident on the Demeter cabin roof- and is possibly the source that Travis and Connor got the chocolates from, as she has a well-known fondness for it. Because of this, many of the members of Demeter's cabin tend t o view her in the same regard as the Stoll brothers. Vanessa is also the one who wound up with the golden mango when Lacy threw it to her out of Aphrodite's cabin window when she was passing by. Vanessa snapped a picture of it on her phone, thinking the prank was hilarious, and then washed and sliced the fruit to share with other members of the camp. Vanessa was also introduced to Luke Castellan and Annabeth- although she did not have much contact with the latter for several years until Percy's arrival. Since Luke was another member of the Hermes Cabin and a half-brother to Travis and Connor, Vanessa befriended him, however she always remained the closest to the Stoll brothers. Its thought that since Vanessa has similiar hair and eye colouring to Thalia Grace, whom he was still mourning at the time, Luke became attatched to Vanessa for awhile, and looked up to her as a fellow classmate. Vanessa eventually terminated their friendship when Luke betrayed the camp and offered her and several others a chance to join him. Even though she had been contemplating leaving at the time, having grown frustrated with how her mother was seen as a "fearsome" Goddess- she could not bring herself to turn her back on her friends who needed her, and so refused his offer. In anger, Luke caught her off guard and struck her in a blind spot- knocking her unconscious and leaving to fight Percy. Even though she was emotionally hurt after Luke's betrayal- as many in the camp were, trouble later arose for Vanessa when she was found and suspician arose. Most of the others who had refused Luke's offer were found with more serious injuries or dead- it's thought Luke did not kill her because of her resemblance to Thalia Grace, or perhaps he was in more of a hurry to go after Percy. Several of the campers thought that Vanessa might be a spy- and began to harrass her in order to force her to confess. Travis and Connor quickly put an end to these rumours, as they knew Vanessa would never do such a thing. She was also suspected of being a monster when an accident occured during a survival excersize when the members of camp Jupiter arrived. A scuffle between some members of both camps broke out during the drill, and Vanessa was forced to dive over a waterfall on the outskirts of the Camp Half-Blood forest to help a younger student who had gotten pushed into the river during the fight. While she was able to carry the younger teen to safety- the mist that had been hiding her scars and her wings wore off because of the water, and were in plain view of everyone. Chiron was forced to explain the circumstances in which Vanessa was born and brought to the camp to those who had been involved, as well as to the head of the Jupiter camp. After some debate, the campers agreed to swear to secrecy, and met Vanessa in the Apollo cabin where she was resting to explain that no one would mention her wings unless she wanted them to do so. Travis and Connor also made her promise to take them flying later when she was healed, as they had never known about her wings before. While Vanessa has not had any direct contact with her mother, she has had contact with her older brother Hypnos, Morpheus (before he was drawn to Kronos's side), Pheobus and Phantasos-and it is believed she has crossed paths with Thanatos at some point after Frank freed him. She also has an older sister, Hemura, the goddess of daytime. Chiron suspected that several of these siblings were teaching the young demi-god how to control some of her powers in the dreamworld, as Vanessa was reported talking to someone when she was in a deep state of sleep several times. Since It was only the parent of the demi-gods that were banned, and not any immortal siblings, and as no one save the Oneirois can truly control what happens in dreams, several of the more mischievious members of Vanessa's family took advantage of both these loopholes in order to see her. It was later found out that Vanessa also has passed along several messages from parent to child and child to parent between several of the demi-gods in the camp who are descended from her family, such as Clovis, so that they can stay more connected to their parents. She seems to be aware of the trick that Percy and Annabeth pulled on her mother, as she is seen grinning and applauding at them when they return to camp after their mission in Tartarus, before taking out a small picture she then gives to Annabeth, saying that she was "Sorry that they didn't get the picture they wanted on their tour, and hoped that this photo will make up for it." The picture was an above-angled shot of nearly all of Nyx's children after their huge family brawl, all jumbled on the ground in various awkward positions. It is still unknown how Vanessa was able to get this picture, but Chiron was seen asking if anyone had seen Vanessa as she had suddenly "disappeared" from his office when they were talking about a secret mission she had been sent on. He was about to send a search party out to find her when she was spotted handing the photo to Percy and Annabeth. Vanessa was seen again as one of the campers who accompanies Percy, when they went to defend Olympus. She stood by the Stoll brothers when Hermes appeared, reassuring them by squeezing their hands. Connor later states to Percy and Tyson that he was surprised she came to help them as she didn't have to go, since her mother's family didn't live on Olympus. When asked why she fought, Vanessa explained that she wanted to defend the mountain anyway for two reasons. The first being that Olympus was the home to her best friend's family members, and the second being she wanted in on the action. Vanessa also helped the children of Apollo who tended to the wounded, by putting those in severe pain into a light-slumber to numb their senses of what was going on while Travis and Connor's band raided the drug store for medicine, and later was seen a final time hugging the two pranksters after the battle for Olympia. 'Personality: ' Sassy, sarcastic, opinionated- Vanessa oftentimes gives off the appearance of a fun-loving mischief-maker, although she is actually a rather laid back person most days. A bit of a wildcard, her dry and witty sense of humor is oftentimes weaved into most of her conversations with others, unless things call for a more serious atmosphere. Vannessa cares deeply for those she is attatched to, and will go to great lengths to protect them. More than anything, she values her freedom as a person above all, and won't hesitate to stand up to someone who gets in the way of that. Vannessa enjoys watching others, and oftentimes her guess's of what they think or feel in a room are accurate. Around the people she cares for, she is shown to lower her guard and is usually a very playful and fun-loving person. Vannessa tries to avoid conflicts- despite her tendancy to wind up being involved in either one of Travis or Connor's grand schemes, however she has a "flip-side" temperament that you don't want to brush against. On those rare occassions when severly angered, she becomes colder, more cruel, and oftentimes smiles when she is very angered at something/someone. Several members of the Ares cabin have dubbed her the nickname of "The Untouchable Ice Queen" on account of t his side of her nature. There are very few in the camp who challenge Vannessa-even Clarisse La Rue has been known to avoid picking a fight with her. The fact that Camp half-blood's top two trickster's are her best friends is also a good reason to keep a safe distance, otherwise, depending on how serious she's angered, you might wind up with a bunkroll full of shaving cream or nightmares for a week. 'Fatal Flaw: ' ' 'Vannessa's fatal flaw stems from a mix of excessive personal loyalty and curiosity. As the daughter of the goddess Nyx, she can't help but be drawn to the wilder side of things. If she sees or hears something has happened, ESPECIALLY to someone she loves- she will make it her top priority to protect that person at all costs, and to get even with the being that has hurt them. This stubborn streak causes much worry to her guardians as she actually has brains and willpower to back up this reaction. Vanessa would sacrifice everything for her friends, or even a stranger, provided she found that person interesting-which is really the only difference between her and others who have this fatal flaw. 'Appearance: ' When she was first brought to camp, Vanessa was emaciatingly thin, her eyes were dull and sunken, and had bruises from the restraints the doctors used to keep her tied down during the surgeries. Her hair was short and scruffy, as if someone had just been taking a razor and hacking it off to keep it from growing. Her hair had to be cut again before it could be properly washed and cleaned. Hermes mentioned that Chiron was especially worried about the young child, and he had to admit that he was too, as no five-year-old should look that broken. Over the years, and with proper nourishment on top of her training, Vanessa's body healed and matured for the better. At the beginning of the series, she is already fifteen-so she is very likely several months older than the main lead roles (Percy and Annabeth.) Vannessa is approximately 5'8 in height, and has a slender yet curvy hourglass figure. She works out regularly, and overal is in very good shape. Like her mother, she is noted in the present for being both beautiful yet terrifying at times. Her hair is long and starts out straight-gradually becoming fairly wavy towards the ends. Her hair goes down to about her hips in multiple layers- starting with the side bangs at her eyes, another layer just past her chin, a third layer at her chest, and the final layer going down her back that curls slightly. Vanessa rarely cuts her hair, although from time to time she'll add in a wild color like blue or purple to it. Her hair color is a natural dark black with some lighter brown highlights mixed in. Her eye color is a piercing saphire-sky blue, although they are shown to turn violet when she is upset. Because of her hair and eye color and fair skin, the members of the Hermes cabin took to calling her "Lizzy" when she was first brought to camp, after the actress Elizabeth Taylor. Vanessa used to be dressed in nothing but a white dress at the institue in which she was kept. Because of the memory that particular shade brings back to her of her time spent in the clinic, she prefers to wear the opposite, and took on wearing dark colors- or colors with black to compliment them. She also has a habit of "borrowing" clothes from some of her male friends. She has an aversion to very "girly" clothes, as she believes a dress would hinder her in a fight, although she will dress up once in awhile for special occasions or holidays. If she has altered her appearance, Vanessa tries to mimic the person she is copying as much as possible, and will often steal their clothes to complete the disguise. 'Powers and Abilities: ' Vanessa, as a demi-god, has these abilities and traits: '*Umbrakinesis-'The ability to mentally generate and manipulate darkness and deactivated photons in the absence of light. One with this ability can deactivate and repulse or travel through shadows by creating deactivated photons into a dark version of a portal. Vanessa can also use it to create barriers, use shadows to make herself seem invisible, and surround enemies in a lightless space. As Vanessa is the daughter of the Goddess of night, it is natural that she can use this abilty. '*ADHD-'Like other demi-gods, Vanessa has ADHD. This supernatural alertness keeps her senses keen and ready for battle. It also lets her analyze her opponent's fighting style and pick up on minor details about an opponent, such as where their muscles tense so she can predict where their attack will come from. This is a general trait among all demi-gods. '*Dyslexia-'Vanessa's brain is "hard-wired" for reading divine Ancient Greek instead of mortal languages. She has also learned Old English, Latin, and Classical Italian over the years-but still has some trouble reading modern English on account of her Dyslexia. '*Night empowerment-''' Like her mother, Vanessa's powers reach there full potential once the sun sets or she is in dark places (I.E- the Underworld). '*Shadow Mimicry- '''She can morph any part of her body or her entire body into(living) darkness/shadows-and appear totally invisible. When combining this with her shapeshifting ability, she can appear as a mirage, and act as a decoy for a teammate on missions. '*Shapeshifting- 'like many of Nyx's offspring, Vanessa can change her appearance at will, however she can only maintain this ability if she knows the physical appearance of the person or animal she is mimicking. '*Astral projection- 'When asleep, Vanessa can travel into others dreams and in different forms-unlike the children of Hypnos however, she cannot always view a person's memories on her own, and needs the person's permission to let her see them of their own will. Through some quirk, when this happens- the person allowing her to read their memories can catch glimpses of Vanessa's own memories in this state. Hypnos speculated once that it was because she has not had proper training in memory-seeing. '*Flight-''' Vanessa was born with a pair of fully functioning wings, granting her the ability to fly. '*Fighting Skills-' Vanessa is a natural at hand-to-hand and aerial combat attacks. She also wields a sword expertly well, enough to stand on her own against, and even defeat, larger and more experienced opponents.Her Greek training combined with her above-average speed creates an unpredictable fighting style that makes her a one-of-a-kind fighter. '*Abnormal strength, speed, and agility- '''While she would rather sit back and enjoy the show, when things are serious, Vanessa has been shown to be extremely quick and agile. These increased physical abilities may be on account of following the same training routine as the children of Hermes for so long, or possibly an after-result of one of the last drugs she was given inside Rutledge. '*Ability to communicate with Nocturnal beings- '''While Vanessa cannot completely control nocturnal animals as her mother can, she seems to be able to communicate with certain species to a degree. She can also reason with nocturnal supernaturals to an extent. Random Trivia: *The name of the asylum Vanessa was taken to as a child is in fact named after the Rutledge asylum from American McGee's "Alice- Madness returns." ^.^; I have no imagination when it comes to naming buildings-so this may very well change in the future. *In the original storyline for this character, Vanessa is hinted to have become a "Substitute" Oneiroi after Morpheus joins Chronos's side during the war, and assists Phoebus and Phantasos in his place-delivering dreams and messages to gods, demi-gods, and mortals alike. *While half of her jokes with Travis and Connor involve flirting, to date she has no romantic interests. *She enjoys music of all varieties, and usually has jazz or techno playing in her room. She also plays the violin to pass the time. *Vanessa has three bookshelves in her room for her books, and a fourth shelf dedicated exclusively to her paintball guns and supplies. *Her favorite games to play are Dead Island, Super Mario Karts, and the entire series of Assassin's Creed. *Neither Travis or Connor have beaten her at Poker, Hearts, Go fish, or any card games- even when they are cheating. *Vanessa has been known to give tidbits of information to other members of the camp in exchange for sweets- particularly dark chocolate caramels. *Originally, Vanessa was supposed to be able to enter someone's dreams and "paint" an image of them-so that the dreamer would have something to remember the dream or the message in it when they woke. Because of this, the author has always imagined her room as being very "artsy"- and probably strewn with all sorts of arts supllies and pictures. *Midnight the cat is based off of one of my own pets.